Part 1 Robin: Face to Face with his Future Face


And now the exciting conclusion of the time travel trilogy (in three parts), that is itself a trilogy of past, present and…

The Future:

“Oh my god Robin! It’s you and you’ve turned evil!” Cassie looked at the partially formed frozen image that was forming around them, as the supercycle slowly entered the time period they had followed the Delorian into. They were surrounded by large awkward looking robots, which seemed to be under the command of the other Robin.

Robin stared at the figure of himself taken aback by what he saw. “No, it can’t be.”

Cissie squinted her eyes. “That’s you all right Robin, you’re a little older but that face is defiantly yours.”

“Yeah that’s my face but that certainly isn’t my body, look at him,” he pointed to the Robin figure. “He must be close to Batman’s size and build. I’d never get that big, no matter how hard I train. I remember when we were all changed into adult heroes that I was nowhere near as big as that. I just don’t think I have the genetics for it.”

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I think there’s something else going on here, but I’m not sure what.”

“What’s going on is that were about to be captured,” Kon stared at the array of sophisticated black and yellow clad robots leveling their guns at the group.

“Impulse can you create a dupe and scout ahead in time for us. Maybe there’s someway we can avoid this trap.”

“Sure thing Rob.” Impulse strained slightly to create a duplicate of himself. The next moment the group stared in amazement, as duplicates of all the Young Justice members, as well as the cycle were created side by side with the group. They stared across the time bubble that the cycle was in to the mirror images of themselves. “Huh?”

“How did you do that Bart?” Traya asked.

“I dunno. I didn’t do anything different.”

“There’s not a dupe of me, why not?” Secret floated towards the second cycle.

“Yeah it’s not like you’re not easily duped, by the way your shoelace is untied.” Kon pointed at her feet.

Secret looked down at her feet. “But I don’t have shoelaces, I don’t really have any shoes.”

Robin looked closely at his own dupe, which stared back at him. “Hmm… the time travel abilities of your scouts combined with the time travel properties of the cycle could be some explanation why your powers were thus affected Bart,” Robin reached over to the duplicate Robin on the cycle next to them. The moment he touched him the dupe disappeared folding back again into Robin.

“They act the way your normal scouts do. But they look a lot more substantial. That gives me an idea.”

Robin got up and began to stand on his seat in the supercycle. He carefully leaped over to the seat of the cycle next to them replacing the Robin he had just absorbed.

“What are you abandoning us?” Secret asked.

“Yes. We need to find out what’s going on, and do something about it. I’m going to get captured and hopefully find out what’s happening. You guys are going to stay free and be able to do something about it. Use the cycle’s phasing ability and hide. I leave my communicator on so that you can hear everything I do. “

“Why do you think you’ll find out anything by getting captured.” Anita inquired.

Robin stared at the older Robin before him. “Because I think I know who’s behind all this, and I think I might be one of the only ones to be able to reason with him.”


The time reentry indicator counted down identical seconds on both of the cycles in the time bubble. The moment it reached zero, the cycle with the real gang on it began to phase, sinking beneath the ground.

The other cycle with Robin and the dupes appeared before the group of armed Robots. “Everybody act surprised.” Robin commanded.

The dupes obeyed, their eyes widened at the sight in front of them.

Almost immediately some of the robots began firing at the group. Pulses of light flashed from their weapons. One by one the duplicate members of YJ slumped forward unconscious. Robin frowned from his seat on the cycle. He was the only one who had not been targeted.

Robin leaped down from the cycle and approached the Robin before him. The older Robin towered above him. Robin looked up and stared him in the face. “You’re not fooling anybody, you’re not me.”

“Of course not Tim Drake, I am Robin. Come, the Prefect wishes to see you.” The older Robin turned to go.

Robin followed behind. “Prefect huh? Is that what he’s calling himself these days?”


He entered the huge dimly lit hall. A giant symbol was emblazoned above the entrance to the hall. The same symbol he had seen on the armbands of the robots, a strangely familiar P. All about him in the hall were piles of complicated machinery, and equipment. Working on one of the pieces of equipment, facing away from him, he could see a black caped figure. The little light that shone on him revealed his dark hair.

“You wanted to see me Prefect, or should I say Bruce.”

The Prefect turned around and faced him. Tim jumped back in horror as there, before him stood himself; he looked about the same age as Batman. He was dressed head to toe in black, save for a yellow armband with the P emblazoned on it. “They don’t call me Bruce.”

“No, this can’t be.”

The Prefect marched over to him. “This is, or maybe from your perspective it’s closer to say this will be. After tonight, you can’t stop it either. You fell right into my trap. Good old trustworthy Dickie boy gives you a map right into my snare and you never even question it. Your emotional side was always your weakness, caused you to lapse from reason. After tonight though you’ll be a lot more reasonable.”

“Tonight? You mean the day we left to go back to the old west. Something happens that night that leads to all this?”

“That’s right, once I rip the time circuits out of the supercycle, I’ll send you all back with your memories erased. Making sure everything goes like it should.”

“God I hope Cass heard that,” thought Robin.


“Did you hear that!” Cass shouted to the group. If the supercycle will take us back in time to well, the present, we might be able to prevent all this from happening.”

“Go back to the present and leave Robin here?” Anita looked at Cass quizzically.

The next instant everything started to shimmer around them.

“No, Robin.” Secret shouted and flew headlong toward the shimmering wall. She seemed to almost penetrate it, and then was flung back into the cycle.


The Present:

They zoomed in over a rooftop in what looked to be Gotham City.

Anita looked out at the city at night. “I meant that as a question not a command but it does look like we’re in the right place. Secret, are you ok?”

Secret lay on one of the seat of the cycle, she stared blindly into space.

Kon waved his hand in front of her. “Hey Secret, hello is anybody home.”

“She’s out of it.” Anita stared at her vacant expression concerned.


The Future:

Secret stared through eyes that were hers but not hers. She was in a vast chamber. She stared at the Prefect’s giant symbol emblazoned on the end of the wall. “That looks like Robins R symbol but with one of the lines removed,” she thought. She looked to a wall of mirrored glass beside her. She had not willed herself to move but she had moved nonetheless. She stared at herself. She instantly knew that it was not herself as she was now, even though she looked exactly the same. She hadn’t aged at all. She had remained a perpetual teenager, trapped as Peter Pan.

Then she moved again. Her older self carried her along, as if possessed. She could not do anything of her own accord.

Instantly she felt dread, as she marched into a room. Horrified at what she saw within.


The Present:

Impulse raised his fists into the air in celebration, as he stared out of the cycle. The building adjoining them had a large banner on the face of it. It exclaimed: Gotham Museum Exhibit of the Wonders of Modern Science. “Gotham City cool. Just a second guys,” he returned back less then that later, with a few artichokes. He looked disappointedly at them. “Oh man, these are just like regular artichokes. I thought Gotham City artichokes where supposed to be really cool and scary looking.”

Cass slapped the palm of her hand to her forehead. “Bart it’s gothic architecture not Gotham artichokes.”

“Gotcha!” He disappeared again, returning with a flower. He was rubbing the petals with his fingers, “I tell ya this Gotham orchid texture isn’t doing it for me either.”

‘Hey isn’t that…” Cissie pointed to a figure on the rooftop directly beneath them.

It was Batman. He was stone cold unconscious.

“Oh no! It looks like when we zoomed in here, we ran over Batman with the supercycle.” Anita shouted.

“I wonder what he was doing here?” Cass remarked.

“I wonder if he’s all right.” Cissie climbed out of the cycle and turned him over, “Cassie hand me my medicine bag. I should have one stored in the glove compartment on your right.”

Cassie opened up the small glove box, reached the entire length of her arm in and felt around. “Hold on it’s in here somewhere. Ah ha. Got it.“ She strained to pull an oversized doctor’s bag, out of the small opening.

She tossed it to Cissie, who opened it and reached inside. “These smelling salts should revive him.”

She held up a cube to Batman’s nose. In the next instant it exploded sending a whiff of gas into the air.

Cissie buried her head in her hands. “Man o man o man, am I an idiot.”

“Oh uh. Why are you an idiot?” Anita asked.

“I accidentally gave Batman a highly concentrated knockout gas, I mistook for a smelling salt cube. He’s going to be out for hours.”

“What do we do?” Cass shrugged her shoulders.

“I say we leave him here and get the hell out of here before he comes to. I don’t wanna be around when he wakes up.” Kon offered.

“I’m with ya.” Anita agreed.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Cass nodded.

Bart came running around a corner. “Hey I found out what Batman was doing here, there’s a big sign down the way, that has “Batman this way” written on it, all you have to do is follow the arrows.”

Kon stared at the unconscious Batman. “I think Bats might be overrated, seems it’s pretty easy for detectives in Gotham City.”

Traya remained with Cissie in the supercycle while the rest of the gang followed the arrows to their source.


The Spoiler prodded Robin. “So tell me is she younger or older then you.”

Robin Iooked around. The sky was a dark gray. Everything had the feeling of unreality about it as if he were dreaming, but he half remembered this incident happening. He was out fighting crime with the Spoiler, who did not know his identity, and she was inquiring about his then current civilian girlfriend Ariana. “I don’t…”

“Robin! The cradle,” Steph shouted.

Robin was annoyed at Steph for prying into his life. “Steph,” he lifted his finger to lecture her.

She rushed past him to a runaway baby carriage. “Baby,” she called as she ran after it.

He turned to follow her and stared into the face of Ariana. She lay there near nude on the couch in front of him. “Baby,” she called out to him and began to peel off her skimpy nightgown.

“Ariana? But it didn’t, it never, it didn’t happen like this. What’s happening?” He turned again looking strait into the face of the Joker.

“Joker?” He griped the armrest shocked.

“That’s me, some people say I’m like Jack Nicholson, others say I’m more like Dennis Hopper from Easy Rider.” He gestured to the near nude girl on the couch with Tim. “My advice to you is Hopper, and Rider. Ha, ha.”


Harley leaned on what looked like a giant tan egg. “So he’s starting to hallucinate huh Mr. J.? I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been in an isolation tank for hours. Learned that at shrink school.”

“Yes, Dr. Quinn. Now get me the damn medicine, woman.“ She handed him a tube filled with liquid. He injected it into a hose attached to the tank. A computer screen showed a clear infrared image of Robin inside the isolation tank. Robin looked to be suspended mid air, in the middle of the egg like tank. Many wires and tubes were hooked up to him.

Joker smiled. “We’re going to probe the protégé of the defective detective, find out what makes him tick, when he starts to talk.“

Harley leaned over a woman seated in a chair beside the tank. The woman stared vacantly ahead. “You’re sure about this babe Mr. J, she looks kinda, I dunno, comatose to me.”

“Ah, she’s an old buddy from Arkham, high society woman and gifted telepath. Able to project directly into ones mind. But since the operation she’d be not one to mind if she went directly to the projects. Ha, ha. Still a gifted telepath though, and easily controlled too.”

He smiled, and goose-stepped around the room. “Und right now, Bats in valking right into my fvun trap. I’ve fvun trapped the Batman fvamily.”

He stared at the infrared image on the screen. “Bats is going to go batty when he finds out I’ve turned his little bratty into my lackey.”


The Joker’s Fun Trap was written in large neon letters on the door before the gang.

Impulse rushed to open the door. “Wow, a fun trap.”

“No stop!” The rest of the gang turned their faces away from the opening door. They were bathed in a green light.

“Oh no,” said Anita, “he’s bathing us in harmful radiation…” She uncovered her eyes and looked to a television set that had Joker’s image on it. “…From the television screen.”

“Hello Batman. I’ve kidnapped Robin. But that’s us criminal geniuses, always stealin’ a Robin. Ha, ha. I know you’re anxious to get him back, well, before he cracks and Robin’s not a good egg anymore. So…” An envelope swirled out from a compartment on the TV.

Jokers face disappeared to be replaced by three words on the screen:

Earth shattering ka-boom.

Impulse bent over the screen puzzled. “Huh, I wonder what that means?”

“It means get us out of here quick Impulse.” Anita shouted.

The group latched on to Impulse and he and got them out of there instantly. An explosion leveled the area where they had just been.


Back inside the cycle, Cass opened the letter. She read it silently. “Japan? Oh my god he’s sending us halfway around the world on a scavenger hunt.”

Traya looked at the note. “These puzzles are really tough, Batman might be able to figure them out or Robin even but I’m stumped.”

Bart seemed very pleased by the turn of events. “Really, a scavenger hunt? That’s so cool. I wish I had some fun villains like the Joker.”

Anita shook her head. “Bart, the things that come out of your mouth sometimes, are so bizarre, off the wall and unpredictable, that I’m not even surprised by it half the time anymore.”

Kon agreed. “Yeah and Rob’s always talking about how the Joker is bizarre, of the wall and unpredictable. He’s got nothing on you Bart.”

“Hmm…” Cassie put her finger to her chin. “Hey, you may have something there. Now this may not make complete sense, but what if Bart could guess at the Jokers’ plans, and figure out the clues, if…” She stained to think. “I dunno, if he thought like a diabolically clever criminal genius. Maybe only someone unpredictable can predict what someone unpredictable is going to do.”

Kon stared at her incredulously. “You’re kidding right, Bart didn’t even pick up on the clue: Earth shattering ka-boom.”

“That was a clue?” Bart’s eyebrows furled.

“Yes and one day you might get one of your very own.”

“I should go too to help out with the puzzles.” Traya said thoughtfully.

Cissie shook her head. “Oh no, first stop before Japan is the school, to drop you off. We just almost got blown up. Red would kill me if I got you killed.” They flew off in the cycle. Bart called out. “We’re going to Japan huh? Hope we don’t get horribly manga-led.”

End of Part 1
“Robin’s Prefect Future.”